Mike Fry

Mike has had a varied and interesting life. When looking back to joining the Royal Australian Navy as a young 17 year old he could not have imagined the pathways his life was to take. Those pathways are still developing as he now embarks upon life as an author and writer at a time when most retirees probably start to wind back. He believes that the life he has led has provided him with the experiences and knowledge to enable him to be a good writer and author. The navy taught him many things including the ability to be independent, demonstrate initiative, show leadership and have the courage of his convictions. There have been many mistakes along the way, he says, but also many adventures. The exhilaration of controlling military aircraft, hunting submarines and then instructing young sailors was a great start to his working life. This was followed by working in a family retail business, representing a major manufacturer in central Queensland and then as an airport firefighter. For a while a restless soul he became a port manager for a regional airline and started a new air service to Great Keppel Island. Following a transfer to Brisbane he left the company and operated a tourism cruise boat on the Brisbane River for thirteen years. Then a trip to Tasmania resulted in the purchase of an historic mansion, renovation and operation of a premier tourism accommodation and restaurant. Not content with his day job he also chaired a number of regional tourism organisations. During this time he also operated four wheel drive touring and fishing tours. Having ambitions to be a writer and author for many years his time in Tasmania offered him the chance to write tourism articles for newspapers, magazines and indulge in some photography. This honed his craft while he wrote several drafts of future novels which are now coming to fruition. He did publish a children's novel on Amazon in 2011 however he was more interested in the exercise of writing a story more than actually promoting it. A revision of that story will be a future project. In 2020, his first serious effort is Your Guest is as Good as Mine, followed by Just Cause in 2021 and with a number of other writing projects now at various stages.